I love this picture by Norman Rockwell of a dear old dad sending his son off to college, probably the first in the family to go, and the boy's mom packed him a lunch for the train ride.
While listening to a sermon in her Methodist Church in 1909 about the newly recognized Mother's Day, Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington got the idea that there should also be an official day to honor fathers everywhere. Her father had returned as a Civil War veteran to singlehandedly raise six children. The first observance of Father's Day occurred the next year on June 13 in her hometown, but it took 63 years for the day to become a national holiday.
In fact, at first the idea was met with laughter, scorn and satire. While Mother's Day was greeted with enthusiasm, many felt creating a Father's Day was an attempt to fill up the calendar with mindless holidays.
It took Lyndon Johnson to designate the third Sunday of June [in 1966] as the day to celebrate fathers in the United States. And it wasn't signed into law until 1972 by then President Richard Nixon. Wow, that is recent history!
Countries around the world celebrate Father's Day on different dates. Russia celebrates it on February 23, Sweden and Iceland in mid November, Australia on the first Sunday in September, and Germany on Ascension Day in May.
It's traditional to wear a red rose to honor a living father and a white rose to remember one who is deceased. And regardless of country or date, the best gift you can give your dad is your time. So make Father's Day a great family day.
For ideas on how to spend the day and to read a few thoughts about my father, click on the first link below.
Happy Father's Day, ♥Daddy♥ … wherever you are ... and to all fathers.
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